Miller sits out Arizona defeat
Arizona’s Sean Miller did not coach against Oregon on Saturday night, a day after ESPN reported through anonymous sources that he was heard on an FBI wiretap discussing a $100,000 payment to sign Wildcats freshman Deandre Ayton.
Ayton scored 28 points in a 98-93 overtime loss in Eugene, Ore., as associate head coach Lorenzo Romar led the No. 14 Wildcats.
Elijah Brown scored 30 points and Mikyle McIntosh scored 20 for the Ducks (1910, 9-7 Pac-12).
Arizona also was without preseason All-American guard Allonzo Trier, who tested positive for the same banned substance that cost him 19 games last season. Trier and Ayton are Arizona’s top two scorers.
“I believe it is in the best interest of our team that I not coach the game tonight,” Miller said in a statement. “I continue to fully support the University’s efforts to fully investigate this matter and am confident that I will be vindicated. For now, my thoughts are with our team. They are a great group of young men that will support each other and continue their pursuit of winning a Pac-12 championship.”
The school did not specify why Miller wouldn’t coach against Oregon or if he will sit out any other games.
ESPN reported Friday night, citing sources familiar with government evidence, that Miller was heard on a wiretap discussing a $100,000 payment to get Ayton to sign with the school. ESPN did not say its reporter heard the audio directly.
There was more bad news for the Wildcats on Saturday when Shaquille O’Neal’s son Shareef announced on Twitter that he is opening up his recruitment, citing the problems at Arizona. O’Neal, a senior at Santa Monica Crossroads, is one of the nation’s top recruits and had committed to Arizona.
“At this time I’m am opening up my recruitment due to the current events with the UofA Bball team,” O’Neal tweeted. “I would like to thank all the coaches for recruiting me. At the time my family and I think it’s in my best interest to look at other options to assure my play in the NCAA next year.”
Arizona was caught up in the first round of the corruption scandal in September.
Assistant coach Emanuel Richardson was among 10 people arrested as part of a federal probe alleging bribes and kickbacks were being used to influence star players’ choices of schools, shoe sponsors, agents and other services like tailors and financial managers. Payments of up to $150,000, supplied by Adidas, were promised to at least three top high school recruits to attend two schools sponsored by the shoe company, according to federal prosecutors.
Richardson was arrested along with assistant coaches from USC, Auburn and Oklahoma State.
Washington 68, at California 51: Jaylen Nowell scored 23 points and the Huskies used a 16-2 run midway through the second half to pull away.
Washington (19-10, 9-7), rebounding nicely from a poor performance in a loss at Stanford on Thursday, also got 16 points and nine rebounds from Noah Dickerson.
at Stanford 86, Washington State 84: Daejon Davis made a pair of free throws with 10 seconds to play as the Cardinal won their third in a row. Reid Travis scored 20 points and had 11 rebounds for Stanford (16-13, 10-6).
at Oregon State 79, Arizona State 75: Tres Tinkle had 15 points, eight assists and eight rebounds as the Beavers (14-14, 6-10) ended a three-game losing streak and handed the Sun Devils their third loss in a row. Tra Holder scored 23 points for Arizona State, which is 7-9 in conference play after going 12-0 in nonconference.